My witches' fingers through the years.
I have used my empanada dough but any pie dough will work. The following year i used a store bought sugar cookie dough. Then i used store bought dinner roll. They all came out pretty good. Each dough produced different shape and character. That is the beauty of this project, perfection is not necessary...the odd shape your fingers are the better it is.
This year, i decided to use Marina's Rich Butter Cookie recipe and of course i like them. There's no doubt about it, i trust Marina's recipes. This by far is my favorite. I will definitely make this again but this time it will be for my Christmas cookies. ;)
If you have her cook book, it's on p.88. If you don't have the book it's not too late to buy a copy. Let me know if you are interested and i'll give you the information.
Here's the recipe for the Rich Butter Cookies.
1/2 stick butter
1/3 C sugar
1/2 package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 t lemon extract
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
Cream together butter, sugar, and cream cheese until fluffy.
Beat in the egg and extract (you may use anise, vanilla, rum or almond extract in place of lemon if desired)
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and combine slowly with egg mixture. (For a firmer cookie, use egg yolk only and chill dough before baking.)
Cut into thin slices. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.
Lemon Icing: Mix 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 egg white, and 1/4 t lemon juice until smooth. Ice cool cookies.
*** To make the fingers:
30 pcs. roasted almonds
1 egg and 2 T of water- beat to make the egg wash
Divide the dough into 30 small pieces.
The dough is a bit sticky so rub your hands with little butter or oil.
Start rolling each piece of dough back and forth with palms and make finger shapes.
Lightly score the middle part with the back of a small knife to make a knuckle.
Transfer fingers to baking sheet and repeat until all pieces are formed.
Brush with egg wash and push almond into dough to attach making sure it's positioned to look like a nail.
To add nail polish, mix a little dot of red food coloring w/ little water and brush the almond.
* Double the recipe to make more creepy fingers. ;)
